Day 25 - For this purpose
- Congregational Federation
- Mar 14
- 2 min read
I love this hymn!! I will explain why it is a suitable Lenten hymn later but first an ecclesiastical story.
During a period of ministerial vacancy, an Anglican vicar was invited to lead worship at our church. He came highly recommended but was only willing to preach, so my husband was tasked with meeting up with him and working out the rest of the Lenten service. At the time we had several young people within the congregation and my husband chose: Hallelu, hallelu, hallelu, hallelujah; we'll praise the Lord! by that common author Anon.
“No, no, no,” said the vicar. “We can’t sing alleluia during Lent and I really don’t like songs sung in the round”.
A couple of points: if we follow Lent as a tradition, then count the days. There are 40 days and 6 Sundays. So fasting, extra prayer or Bible reading, frugal lunches – whatever you feel drawn to do over Lent – does not apply on Sundays. Shout alleluia from the rooftops, still have flowers in church on Sundays ...
I did not have to count the days. I know that Lent has 40 days. My younger son, aged 15 at the time, said: “The doctor says it is fine”.
“Why did you go to the GP?” I asked in a squeaky, very concerned voice.
“To see if I could fast during Lent.”
Fast forward a couple of weeks and we hear a rummaging in the early hours of Sunday morning. It was our fridge being raided. Fast forward until Holy Week. The family were on holiday at Center Parcs. “Could we have another basket of bread please?” Just imagine the thoughts going through the waiter’s mind!
My son stuck to bread and water for the forty days of Lent, but because of his vast calorific intake on the Sundays, he lost only about a stone. What an achievement! (But curiously, he never repeated it.)
Despite the choruses with nine Hallelujahs, For this purpose is definitely a hymn for Lent. Jesus came to defeat the devil – the first Sunday of Lent always includes a Gospel reading about Jesus being tempted after forty days and nights in the desert. But as Graham Kendrick assures us: the Evil One is overcome and so we can sing clothed in gladness not sackcloth. Also, we claim the ground for His Kingdom, because the authority of Satan has vanished and we live in the light. For those who want to pick up on the sacrifice of Jesus and our response in penitence there is the line “by the power of His blood”.
If your church has not used this hymn during Lent, it works just as well as an Easter hymn. In fact, sing it every month – it has constant relevance!
Elaine Kinchin
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